Chuck vs the Rum
by Jimmy 144
Summary: Sequel to Chuck vs the Plan. Set after the end of Season 2. Chuck and Sarah are now in charge of teams to take down Fulcrum, and eventually the Ring. Back at the hospital. Chapter 6 No slack.
1. Chapter 1 No Slack

We wait. Still don't own Chuck.

Chapter 1—No Slack

This story is the sequel for Chuck vs. the Plan. It takes place after Season 2. If any of this really happens in Season 3, I would be very surprised. Then again I don't really think it counts as an A/U either. In either case…it was a dark and stormy night….

**Beach by the Two Shelters **

The Hawaii or Bust beach party was starting to wane. Most of the roasted pig was gone. Ellie had managed to roast Chuck a little. She was finally getting time to think over what all had been happening with Chuck. He been shot the night of the wedding and she didn't know. It was only after Devon intervened and reminded her that it was all Chuck that set up the wedding she always dreamed of, did she back down. Her movements showed that she might have had a little too much of the pineapple, but her face was clear this was not over.

The pineapple Mi Ties were. They had run out of rum awhile back and were into happy substitutes. Morgan was happy with the party because Anna was happy. Morgan's mom had gone through herself to make sure everything was there and it was perfect. Big Mike had chipped in and was in charge of the roasted pig. Most of the Buy More crowd was invited, except Emmett.

Emmett was still trying to get rid of Big Mike. He tried to convince Anna that Chico had to stay in the Hawaiian dog quarantine kennel for three months. He wanted Anna to get Morgan's mom to come watch the dog and bring Big Mike. All of the Buy More people knew what had happened and were looking for Jeff and Lester to seek revenge.

Jeff had left the party a little earlier than expected. He was his on his normal behavior having met up with his friend Beer. But later in the party he claimed they were coming over the sand dunes to get him. By then no one was taking him seriously. Chuck passed it off that he might have seen one of Casey's guards.

Chuck and Sarah were clinging to each other. It was getting a bit cold. The beach torches were bent over and the flames were getting horizontal. Chuck was happy that Sarah was back, okay very happy. They had rarely left each other side. Chuck knew he had this all set. The apartment was blanketed in roses, some fine wine and for a back up he had some rocky road stashed away.

As they sat next to each other covered in a beach blanket, Chuck could only think what a miracle it was this past week. Sarah was named the head of the Intersect Initiative. _'It was to be Sarah and Bryce. Bryce must have really wanted that. Then Bryce said Sarah was not going with him. I am sorry buddy. Here's to you. But Sarah did stay. She said I love you. And now we are engaged. How great can it get?' _

Sarah had buried herself in Chuck. He felt so nice and warm. The muumuu she was wearing was really nice for Hawaii. But it was not made for upcountry or a cold breeze on a dark night. She would occasionally reach around and check to make sure he was still there. Generally that was met with the kiss she was really looking for. _'How could I ever want anything but this? It is so right, so like Chuck. All his friends were together and everything was in order. Casey was wrong; this is why we did the things we did.'_

Ellie and Devon had already left. Devon had an early operation the next morning. They had already planned the second half of their honeymoon. Once again the location was secret. Devon was not going to tell anyone. Chuck told him that Casey's folks would find out. But Devon was convinced that if he told anyone, there could be a leak to his old Frat brothers. Chuck was going to say 'no way' but then he thought of the surprise of finding that Mary Ramirez, one of their new team leads, was the cook for Devon's Frat House. It made him think of there were always possibilities.

Morgan and Anna came over to where Chuck and Sarah were sitting. They were the last ones. The fire had almost gone out. Morgan sat next to Chuck and Anna next to Morgan. Morgan began, "This has been so great. A great party and we had a great run. We are the best. Anna and me, and you and Sarah. What could be more? Imagine if we had been on a desert island."

Sarah heard a grunt in her earpiece. Chuck thought, _'Yeah, Casey one more time.' _

Chuck started in, "Yeah, what sandwich would you take?" They both heard a 'No' in their earpieces. Sarah turned and looked at Chuck. It was no smile.

Chico started barking at the sand dunes.

Chuck and Sarah moved as one. "Casey?" No response. The beach blanket flew over the fire and sand was kicked on top. "Casey?" No response. Chuck grabbed Morgan in a tackle and Sarah took down Anna.

Sarah whispered to Anna, "Get Chico and keep him quiet. We need to move out of here."

Chuck held Morgan's face in his hand, "Listen, no game, we are in trouble. Got to move. Stay down."

Chuck pointed to the sand dune on the right. There was a narrow passage to the road. They moved quickly to it. Sarah motioned them to cross the street. There were no cars on the road and the lights were minimal. They made it across and went behind a dumpster. Chuck and Sarah both pulled their cell phone. They hit the emergency assist app.

The emergency assistance application had just been programmed into all of their cell phones. It transmitted their ID, time, and location and then automatically became the long distance service for their earpiece and microphone. Steven had set that up with some help from Director Kelly Robins at the CIA. On their last missions they had problems connecting to the local FBI and other agencies. This system connected them directly to the FBI command center and to the command post at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Actually, Casey had worked that part having worked with Vandenberg before on a previous mission to take out a satellite. The links sent the emergency code for assistance to the Intersect Teams and Casey's protection details.

The Intersect teams had been formed to seek out Fulcrum and take it down. Their expanded mission would take them overseas against an equivalent group known as Sion. Sion had been targeting banking overseas and was a major contributor to the continued economic problems. Then finally, they would be tasked to take out the ring. At the moment, the teams were made mostly of FBI and other law enforcement agencies. Sarah was in charge of those teams.

Casey was the commander for the protection details. It was thought that since Chuck, Sarah, and Casey were all targets; the best approach would be to have military protection provided for them. It was later established as a means to cover the Intersect teams when they were on a mission.

Chuck and Sarah knew they were at least thirty minutes away for any effective response. "Sarah, do you think there is any chance Casey and his team are still out there?" He already knew the answer. If there was a request for Casey, and he did not immediately answer, then his second in command was to respond, and on through the detail.

Sarah just shook her head. She could tell Morgan and Anna were about to ask questions but just held her finger to her month. They still needed to be quiet.

Sarah saw an alley leading further inland to another road. She pointed to it and got the group to move. Chuck tried to take the lead, but Sarah was insistent. She made it to the road and saw an old pickup truck on the other side. Chuck knew what would happen next. They reached the car and miraculously Sarah had a knife out to pick the lock. "Chuck, you and Morgan get in the pickup bed and stay down. Anna can get in the other seat and get down to the floorboard.

"Anna stay as low as you can. This might be a little rough." Sarah reach down and pulled out a compact Glock from a discrete location. She looked in the back. Morgan was down on the truck bed. Chuck was crouched by the back window. He held his thumb up.

Sarah had already jumped wires in the truck and had it started. She quickly put it in gear and sped off down the street. "We are headed south on 2nd Street, in an old white Dodge Pickup. No contact with Protection detail. Copy?"

FBI and Vandenberg came back with a copy all. FBI reported that they had a SWAT team enroute to join at the 10. Vandenberg reported dispatching one of their helicopters for surveillance and an armed Pave Hawk was another thirty minutes from target area.

At the cross street before the 10 a black van with machine pistols sticking out the passenger windows came through the intersection. They were traveling at a fairly high speed and their rounds barely hit the pickup.

Sarah increased her speed as soon as she saw them. She got off two shots at the left front tire, with no apparent effect. Having made it through the intersection, she saw another van pull behind them.

_A/N Hope you enjoyed the previous story. This story will be following that main story line. BTW I do not own Peanuts and my Beta is not Snoopy or Woodstock._


	2. Chapter 2 Getting to the 10

Let us not speak of it at all. Still don't own Chuck.

Chapter 2—Getting to the 10

…it was a dark and stormy night….

**On 2****nd**** Street**

Sarah increased her speed as soon as she saw them. A black van had pulled up behind the pickup she had borrowed. She got off two shots at the left front tire, with no apparent effect. Having made it through the intersection, she saw another van pull in behind them. The silhouette of machine pistols became apparent. She started to zigzag in the street. The entrance to the 10 was to the right and big loop ramp on to the start of the highway.

Chuck relayed, "FBI Center we now have a black van behind us. They have machine pistols and are shooting at us." Morgan started to pop his head up. Chuck swatted it down. "Morgan, buddy stay down."

As she started to the entrance on the right she saw the second van in trail. There were now two vans with guns out ready for a shot. Sarah was not pleading, but was very concerned about whether the FBI SWAT team would be of any assistance. As she pulled on to the loop she asked for a status, "We are entering the 10. Status on support please."

The FBI center came back with, "SWAT team in large step van at top of the 10. They should be visible. "

Vandenberg relayed that their helicopter had spotted the SWAT team. They put the helicopter on the network. "We have the large step van and white pickup merging on the 10. Two black vans are in trail. The van appears to be firing their weapons."

Morgan started to pop his head up, again. Chuck pushed him down. "Morgan, you have to stay down." Chuck looked at the SWAT team van. "SWAT team lead, are you on line? Can you disable the vans behind us?"

The big step van was just ahead of the pickup. Chuck could not see any one inside the step van. Then he heard on the net, "This is SWAT team lead Delhart. Who are we talking to and what is your authorization?"

Sarah face was burning red and Chuck in the back was getting redder. Both Chuck and Sarah were trying to control themselves. Casey could be gone and these jerks in the SWAT van obviously were not paying attention. The application on the phones was enabled to alert the FBI and the closest military command center that a Joint Interagency Team needed emergency assistance. While the centers were not given details on the team and did not have a real name, the centers were to know that an event involving a team commanded immediate attention. There were not many other situations that would take precedence. Chuck and Sarah could not see why this team lead had a problem.

Vandenberg broke in, "FBI Center you have two seconds to get in control. Our Pave Hawk is two minutes from targets. White Pickup, do wish us to engage?"

The black vans spread out, now even with each other and moving up on the pickup. Their machine pistols were starting to hit the pickup. Chuck was hoping these were not the armor piercing bullets like the previous night. Those bullets had torn through a trash dumpster and severely wounded a member of another team.

Sarah tried once more with the SWAT team, "SWAT team, acknowledge."

"This is SWAT team lead Delhart. Please identify your selves."

Chuck no longer had a choice. The black vans were almost even with the pickup. "Pave Hawk, this is White Pickup. Engage both. Try for the engine block.

As the machine pistol fire got closer to the pickup rear window, Chuck pulled his Officer's .45 and tried to return fire. He figured that even though he wouldn't hit anything, it might keep their heads down. A second later the fronts of both black vans were riddled with a rain of fire from the Pave Hawk and literally disappeared. The passenger compartments of both vans dropped to the ground and graded on the pavement.

"FBI Center, if you could, please have your team ready to police up the area. We would like prisoners." Chuck could not think of another way to get their cooperation quickly. The FBI Center told the SWAT team to go back capture as many as possible. Chuck heard the Team lead accept the mission. He also noticed that they never accepted any request directly from their pickup. Chuck continued to control what assets he could, "White Pickup will proceed to secure area. Vandenberg can you continue overhead control and surveillance?"

Vandenberg came back, "We will provide coverage. Advise when secure."

That triggered something in Chuck, "We are breaking down the net." When he heard the FBI Center break off, along with the SWAT team, he told Vandenberg that they would establish contact in a second, but to break down this line.

Chuck looked over to Morgan and cut off the mic, "You okay little buddy? Sarah, you and Anna okay?"

Morgan looked up and said, "Yeah, I'm fine. What's going on? What just happened?"

Sarah had her mic off now too. "Anna, are you okay?"

"Sarah, what are you in to? What was all that? Morgan?"

Morgan answered, "Anna, I'm okay. Are you alright?"

"Yes. Sarah, what did happen?"

"When we get to a place that is safe, we will let you know. We are not completely out of this, so please stay down." Turning around Sarah said, "That applies to both of you."

Both Chuck and Sarah put their mics back in place. Chuck got Vandenberg by dialing them up through his cell phone. They in-turn got Sarah on-line and established a conference call with the surveillance assets. Chuck and Sarah got constant updates from the surveillance cap. Nothing noticeable was approaching their position. The Pave Hawk remained on standby.

Sarah checked with Chuck on their final destination and they both agreed Castle would be the best. They would be able to get a good view of the situation from there and at the same time keep a little mystery on the exact location with Morgan and Anna. Sarah arranged to have a double manned protection detail meet them at Castle. When they got there Morgan and Anna were blindfolded. Keeping them both blindfolded they were led into Castle by the protection detail.

**Castle**

Sarah called the FBI center. This time she had to identify herself, "This is Director Sarah Walker, you should have my card on file." She went on to identify herself. Vandenberg added the FBI Center back to the net. She got the FBI to dispatch another team to the beach to look for any clues on what happened with Casey. The center asked for details on the party, and Sarah explained that what they were to look for was the guard detail that was protecting the party. She then had the pickup truck taken to the FBI center for a review of the ballistics. It was to be restored and taken back to the owners.

Morgan and Anna were taken to one of the back holding rooms. Chuck got there first and was barraged with questions. "Okay, okay. I'll explain. I am sorry you got caught in this. Are you alright? No cuts or anything?"

Morgan said, "No, we just don't understand. What happened? Did you have a run in with one of those gangs? Who is after you?"

Anna asked whether Sarah was okay.

"Morgan buddy, its okay, its okay. We are safe now. There will be nothing else that will happen." Chuck was looking to see if Sarah was coming.

Morgan still kept pressing, "I have one question. How did our beach party turn into an armed gun battle down a street?"

Chuck was trying to avoid any question, "Okay Buddy, we are fine."

It was Chuck's turned to be surprised. "This whole thing is my fault, man it's me, if I hadn't wanted to go to chef's school; we would not have had to pay off Anna's apartment. I made the mistake; I borrowed it thinking I could sell the car. But that fell through. I didn't know they would get so mad at us. Man it's me, I been counting on you to fix things my whole life. Wait, how did you fix that? How did you get us out of that?"

"Buddy, I am sorry. We just haven't been able to tell you." Chuck was waiting to talk with Sarah about this and trying to stall Morgan.

"What do you mean; you haven't been able to tell us? Stop it dude." Morgan was getting serious.

"You're right that isn't good enough, I don't know what to tell you." Chuck finally saw Sarah. "Stay here, I'll be right back."

Morgan looked at Anna and shook his head. "I don't know. He has never been like this. Are you alright?"

Anna wrapped herself around Morgan, "Yes, I am fine. I am sure Sarah will know what to do."

Chuck made it into the main room where Sarah was starting the search for Casey. "Sarah, any word?"

Sarah said, "We did finally hear from the FBI Center. There were six prisoners. None of them said a word. There were no ids and nothing from their weapons that provided a trace. The vans were rented from an agency in Northern California. But we got nothing about Casey or his teams." She turned her attention back to the display, "Vandenberg, it's been at least an hour since we were attacked. Please widen the search."

Chuck moved around her to get her to look at him again, "What do I do with Morgan and Anna?"

"We don't have time. Tell them nothing. Make sure they understand they can't talk about tonight. Do whatever it takes to make that happen. Hurry up, I need your help." Sarah was sounding more anxious than Chuck had heard her in a long time.

"Got it. Be right back." Chuck left the room to go back to Morgan.

"Morgan, Anna, I can't tell you what happened tonight. Right now what you think started this could be the real reason. But we can't talk about it any more. This is serious." Chuck looked at Morgan for some acknowledgement.

"You're right it's time for me to pay for my own mistakes. I'll fight my own battles." Morgan looked at Chuck with some defiance in his eyes.

"Buddy, I would start with a different battle. This one wasn't yours." Chuck start thinking of what else he could do, then he remembered 'by any means.' He looked at Morgan with the most serious expression he could muster. "Let's remain calm. You know I got some money from selling that software package. I will give you enough money to pay off the loan. You can pay me back after Morgan finishes school."

"But, what happened?" Morgan was still pressing.

Chuck shook his head, "We can't talk about it. It will be better and keep you both safe. I'll have the money deposited in your account tomorrow. Right now, I'll have to have you both get blindfolded. We'll drop you some place safe where you can get a taxi to take you home. I'll see you both tomorrow."

"But Chuck," Morgan pressed.

"No more buts Morgan. You have to go." Chuck waved to the guards.

Chuck got the guards to blindfold them and they left with an escort. Chuck went back to conference room in Castle. Sarah was still there coordinating the search for Casey. She looked over to Chuck who said, "At this point I am not sure Morgan will remember much of the night. I think he had too much of the Captain." Chuck asked, "Any leads?"

"No, nothing yet. We have an airborne search going. Another FBI team went back to the beach and is sweeping the area for any signs of Casey or the protection detail." Sarah looked at Chuck for any other ideas.

"Well, how about I get Mary's team and see what we can find? The Chief has worked with Casey enough to know where Casey would have placed his guards. Then Mary and LT can coordinate with the FBI on scene. You can stay and coordinate the search." Chuck looked expectantly for her answer.

"Okay Chuck, if you can get them all. You have to let me know what is happening all the time. If anything does not look right or seems odd, leave." Sarah looked back at Chuck to see whether he would really accept that. "We have people there, but no idea whether there are more threats out there or not."

"I know. We will be careful." Chuck started reaching for the phone at the console.

Mary answered on the second ring. "Mary, we had a problem tonight. We were ambushed on the beach. Casey and the protection detail cannot be found. Can you get to Castle quickly? We'll go down to the beach and see if there are any traces we can find." Having gotten a 'fine, I'll be there,' he went to the next call. He got all three of them: Mary, LT and the Chief.

The Chief got a protection detail to report to Castle. He then got an additional detail to suit up and be ready to follow.

When they all had gotten to Castle and put their tactical outfits on Chuck gave them a quick run down the on the events of the evening. On the way out, Chuck stopped by Sarah once more. "Anything new?" Another shake of the head no, answered the question. "We will be in contact all the time. We'll be fine. Let us know if something else comes up."

Sarah continued to work the search. Every time they thought there was a transient on the frequencies of Casey's group, Sarah had them go back over the area three times to see if there were any other signs.

**Beach by the Two Shelters **

Chuck and Mary's team made it out to the beach without any problems. Mary checked in with the FBI team making the search. They decided to start on the tallest sand dune. The four of them may their way to the top of the dune. Chuck pointed to where the beach party took place. He asked the Chief where Casey would take position and where would put the guards. The Chief looked over the area and went to another sand dune. He came back and pointed out the possible locations. Rather than go to those locations, Chuck asked, how an opposing force could then capture Casey's unit all at the same time.

The Chief said, "There was no way to do it by sneaking in from the surrounding area. One or more of the guards would have seen them. It was too short a time for someone, even the best trained, to sneak up on them from the ground. Coming from the beach doesn't make any sense. They would have been out in the open too long. One of the guards would have seen them."

"So what they jump in on them?" LT said.

The Chief looked at LT like he was a wiseass lieutenant he used to know. But Chuck flashed, black cloth, Fulcrum symbol, parachutes, drug drops. This operation was a newly identified Fulcrum unit. It fit the profile with a parachute drop, and ground back up. Chuck switch his link on, "Sarah check with the FBI center and see if the people from the black van were taken to a detention center. I think this was a new Fulcrum unit and we have some serious problems."

Sarah called back to the team, "Chuck and Mary you need to return now. The FBI Center cannot confirm what happened to the prisoners or their SWAT team. We don't control this situation. Come back now."

That definitely got their attention. The Chief pulled out his Glock, "I Tac, alert 1. I say again alert 1." The protection detail pulled out their Glocks and went to a ready position forming a protective square around Chuck and Mary's team. The Chief moved over to Chuck. "I am sorry, with you exposed like this, we have to go."

_A/N Hope you enjoy. Please review. _


	3. Chapter 3 Finding a Lead

Let's go. Still don't own Chuck.

Chapter 3—Finding a Lead

…it was a dark and stormy night….

**Beach by the Two Shelters **

Sarah called back to the team, "Chuck and Mary you need to return now. The FBI Center cannot confirm what happened to the prisoners or their SWAT team. We don't control this situation. Come back now."

That definitely got their attention. The Chief pulled out his Glock, " I Tac, alert 1. I say again alert 1." The protection detail pulled out their Glocks and went to a ready position forming a protective square around Chuck and Mary's team. The Chief moved over to Chuck. "I am sorry, with you exposed like this, we have to go."

Chuck was not completely sure that was the right decision. He knew there had to be something here at the beach that would help them. It occurred to him that the likely position of Casey was in the path of getting back to their vans. Chuck just pointed to the vans and started matching off that way. As he got to where the Chief said Casey would have been he saw four little feathers sticking out of the sand. Reaching down he pulled it up to see it was a tranq dart. He wondered a bit whether someone had missed or whether the grunt they heard from Casey was him pulling it out and throwing it to the ground. Without saying anything, he got Mary's attention and gave her the dart. She eyed him suspiciously but pulled a plastic bag to put it in and slipped it in her purse. Chuck finished looking around and saw a couple matches and some lingering ashes from a cigar. Now convinced this was where Casey was, made him feel better.

Sarah asked Vandenberg to check the beach area to see if anything was coming up around Chuck. They reported four vans coming off the 10 in a single file. "Chuck did you hear that? You may have company." Sarah got the FBI Center back. "Have you got another team headed to the beach area? We have a report of four vans coming off the 10."

The Center came back saying they were checking.

Sarah said, "Chuck, I want you to head north toward San Vincente and take that back here."

As Chuck and their teams pulled on to San Vincente, the FBI Center reported that their people on the beach saw the four vans slow down while passing and at least one gun pointed out the window of the third van.

Chuck thought it a bit strange that there would be four vans in a single file coming off the 10. It was after all now after midnight. But to then have them slow down at the beach area and a gun out the window, he asked, "Sarah, can we get the surveillance to track those vans? It seems really suspicious that four vans would be out here at this time of night that they would slow down and that one of them would have a gun out the window."

Mary also called in, "He is right Sarah. Along with everything happening tonight, those are sufficient reasons to conduct surveillance. When we get back I'll make sure we have no problems with it."

"Thanks Mary." Sarah was a bit relieved. "Vandenberg, if there is a way to keep those vans under surveillance, please do."

Vandenberg called back, "We have them."

**Castle**

Chuck and Mary's team arrived at Castle about forty minutes later. The surveillance still had the four vans. They were almost out of the city heading north on the 5. Chuck watched, fascinated that they could keep track of them this long and the visuals that were available of the vans. The angle of the video was good enough to show the license plate of the last van. Chuck had a flash on the license plate, a ranch, storage facilities, drugs, and the Fulcrum symbol.

Chuck went over with Sarah. "They are Fulcrum. They are likely headed out to a ranch a few miles off the 5. They have big storage areas and are using it for drugs. But I can't tell if that is where Casey is being held. I don't know that yet." He looked up and saw Mary. "Oh, we did fine a couple things at the beach, other than some empty bottles of rum. The Chief showed us where Casey would likely position himself. That was on the way back to the van, so I stopped there and found a couple matches and a few cigar ashes. I also found this."

Mary held up the tranq dart. She said, "We might be able to track this." The Intersect Teams had been told about the analysts that belonged under Sarah's organization. "Can we get your analysts to look at this?"

Sarah nodded her head yes. She was busy on the phone coordinating the search efforts. The helicopters were rotating in another crew. And the people at the beach had not found anything. They were requesting that they start again in the morning. Sarah approved and worked with the surveillance crews to make sure they did not lose the vans.

Chuck helped Mary take a video of the dart and still shots of it. They did notice some marking on it. They used a magnifying lens to look at the writing. It turned out to be like a serial number. Chuck passed the information along to the analysts. He called there on a speaker phone in case Mary needed to say something. "This is Chuck secure."

"Reynolds secure. Who is this?"

"Hi, I'm Chuck Bartowski. Sarah, I mean Director Walker said we could have you check something for us."

"Wait you're Chuck, the Chuck?"

"Just Chuck is fine. That's me."

"Oh, I am sorry Director Bartowski. Wow, it is really you? What do you need?"

Chuck was looking at Mary like they had just moved to Wonderland, "Well, first how about your name?"

"Oh sure, this is Liz Reynolds. I have been working here ever since you started. Wow, it's so great to actually get to talk with you. I wish, we all wish we would get to see you. It was fabulous when Director Walker came out. You've done so much together. I mean, what do you need Director?"

"Please call me Chuck." Chuck was looking at Mary. Even she thought this was a bit over the top. And LT was almost laughing on the floor. As Chuck explained the events of the night he saw more and more people standing behind Liz. Chuck was wondering how often General Beckman had let these people out. Chuck decided he would have to ask Sarah what was happening there.

Chuck began to recount the activities of the night, "So we went back to the beach to see if there were any clues. The Chief pointed out where Casey would have been. I did find matches and some cigar ashes in that position. So we are pretty sure that was where he was. And I found this. It's a tranquilizer dart." He could almost hear the 'ooze auhs,' from Liz and the others as he held up the dart. "Mary Ramirez took a video of it and some still pictures. We are going to send those to you right now. Can you see if these photos will help identify anything for us?"

"Sure Chuck, we will get right on this and call you back. Sure was great to talk with you."

Chuck was certainly happy that he was getting so much help. He asked Mary and her team to see what they could find on the ranch. He wanted all the floor plans or drawings of the ranch they could find. While they waited to watch the vans pull into the ranch that Chuck had pointed out, Chuck started putting the information of the ranch into his searches. He was almost finished when the vans pulled into the ranch. The vans went into one of the large storage barns. No other movement was visible.

The Chief suggested that they start calling in their other teams. Sarah agreed. She wasn't positive what other ground forces would be available.

Sarah asked that the surveillance of the ranch continue. Now they knew where Fulcrum was located they would be able to do something. But this needed a little more planning. A count of how many people were there was also needed. Sarah was checking with Vandenberg to see what kind of assets they had available. They were arranging to have a UAV on-loan to the Coast Guard fly the mission, when the excited analyst called back and she picked up.

"Director Walker, we know where this dart was made and who bought it. It isn't one of ours. We believe the tranquilizer is not as powerful. It comes from a much respected chemical company and is made in the Philippines. It was bought by a ranch called Bar F CA, that's about an hour from your location. Do you need any of the details on the drug or the ranch?" The analyst was almost out of breath.

Chuck was elated that they could come up with something so fast. He looked at Sarah and could see the same thing. He walked over to her and whispered in her ear. Sarah smiled. It was a good idea.

Sarah still on-line with Liz said, "Tell Mr. Wiggins, that we would like you to come out for an orientation. I'll send a confirmation to you and copy him. Thank you for the good work and we'll see you." Sarah shut down the line. She could tell that was the right thing to do. Chuck was beaming at her.

Chuck walked over putting his hands on her shoulders, he leaned down and said in her ear, "Very nice. Thank you for doing that. You know I'd like to do more than rub your shoulders, but Casey's still out there." As Sarah turned around, Chuck smiled, "It just wouldn't be the same without Casey listening."

Sarah turned back to the console, "I know. Me too."

**Bar F CA**

Casey was just starting to come around. He felt a little dizzy and disoriented. He was lying on his stomach face down to the floor. He saw on his left three of the protection detail. He looked to the other side and saw the other guard. All of them were still asleep, he did not think it was a good idea to arouse any guards. So he stayed where was. He looked over at the others and saw their handcuffs were regular police issue. Knowing that he could break his thumb and get out of them. But he decided he better get some sense of what was going on here before he tried to get out.

The room was almost completely white. There were some scuff marks on the floor. The walls were barren except for a window. Casey guessed that it was about seven feet above ground. He could see that it was still dark outside. On the opposite wall there was a door. As he worked his way around so he could get a better look. The door swung out, so working the hinges out would not work. He looked at the door handle and saw that it too was position to ensure no one could get out. If there was a lock it was accessible only from the outside. If they did it that way then there would have to be some kind of surveillance equipment.

Casey tried to be careful as he searched for the surveillance equipment. He saw a dark spot in the ceiling corner left of the window. As he studied the location, he figured that directly below the window might not be seen by the camera. As he rolled around he noticed that most everything in his pockets had been taken. But it did feel like his watch was still on.

Having completed his visual recon, he settled back and tried to see if he could hear anything. There did not seem to be much noise at all. Once he thought he heard a dog bark, and a bird chirping outside the window.

There weren't too many options. He thought he could get out through the window and maybe keep them fooled for a little. But once out the window he wasn't sure that he would be able to get the rest of the detail out the door without being caught. He finally decided that having at least one person out of their grasp might make a difference.

**Castle**

The UAV surveillance had just begun and was being displayed on the scenes at Castle. Chuck was pacing back and forth in the conference room. He finally went over to Sarah, "The ranch is pretty far away, should we get some teams up there? I know we don't know how many people they have but we only have a couple hours before morning. If we wait longer than that, our people will likely be, well you know?"

Sarah knew Chuck was right. It was time they started a counter move. The teams and other protective details had come to Castle. The detail leaders were in Castle while the rest were outside getting their vehicles ready. Chuck got Chief to the side. "When Casey gets back, we need to think about getting a bigger building. We need a place where can all gather and it not look like some crazy car rally in the Buy More parking lot."

Sarah started going over the events of the night. She brought up the map display and pointed to the ranch. "We need to get to this ranch. The only access appears to be from the 5. We will leave in one minute internals so if Fulcrum is also on the road, hopefully they won't recognize us. Our backup is going to be a National Guard unit. They are an Air Cavalry unit coming out of the National Training Center. We should be up there and in place about thirty minutes before the Air Cavalry unit will be on station.

"As you can tell from this display we are getting a feed from a UAV. Its sensors will be able to pick up the location of people, but they cannot tell who is a friendly and who is not. We have in your packets pictures of our people. Please memorize those. We do not want any friendly fire incidents.

"We will continue to get feeds as we deploy to the target area. We will provide positions of all know targets upon arrival at the site. Any questions? Okay, thank you, and be careful out there." She walked over to Eldie. He and Steven were going to stay back at Castle and make sure the network stayed up. Sarah was still wearing a dark blue muumuu with white orchids. Eldie could not help but be mesmerized by her.

LT bumped him as he passed by, "Pay attention."

Sarah asked, "You alright working this from here?"

While Eldie was still mumbling something, Steven said, "No problem. Go bring Casey and his guys back."

Sarah nodded and went to the locker room to change. Chuck was just coming out. He had changed and had a camouflaged tactical outfit on. Sarah looked at him and said, "You know you are just going to stay in the van?"

"Yes, I know. But I looked at map and our position will be one of the better ones for surveillance. I figure I may have to get out to take a look, so I thought it best to blend in." Chuck looked at her hoping she would understand.

"Chuck, remember that little speech you gave Casey and I about how we are a team now? That you don't want us to protect you at the cost of one of us? Well, we are at that point now. I will get Casey back. But I cannot be worried about you and whether you are in immediate danger. Please Chuck do this for me." She looked at him.

"Okay, well no pressure." Chuck reached to hold her. "But you know." They broke the embrace and Sarah went to change.

A/N Hope you enjoy this. Please review.


	4. Chapter 4 In Position

We wait. But it looks like we'll get more. Still don't own Chuck.

NEWS FLASH from AOL story "NBC Cancels 'Trauma' - Sends Medical Drama to the Morgue"

"After the series runs its course, the slightly more popular 'Chuck' will fill the Monday at 9PM time slot. In the wake of 'Trauma''s cancellation, it was also announced that 'Chuck' has been granted 19 episodes for its forthcoming season."

Chapter 4—In Position

…it was a dark and stormy night….

**Castle**

All of the Intersect teams and protection details were headed to the Bar F CA ranch. They paced themselves and left in one minute intervals. They also decided to use some of the personal cars to break up the convoy. Another ten black vans going down the street even if they were spaced would have sent off someone's alarms. Chuck and Sarah were the second to last to leave. They had Marshal Kayle Poston and Kristen O'Day with them, making the fourth team. Another of the protection details made up the last vehicle, again making up the fourth protection detail. The total number in their force was twenty eight.

Chuck and Kristen stayed in the back of the van. Chuck was linked to Steven at Castle, to the Vandenberg command center and to the National Guard unit. The video was getting a feed from the UAV circling the ranch. Chuck relayed the visual information to Sarah as they proceeded to the ranch.

Mary and her team had provided the maps of the ranch to all units. The ranch stretched for three miles along the access road. The buildings were in a valley, so there was a gentle slope from the access road to the buildings. They had labeled the buildings at the ranch. There was the ranch house, the garage, the bunkhouse, the barn, and sheds one through four. The main road into the ranch went to the ranch house then split off to separate lanes going to the garage, bunkhouse and barn. The barn was behind the house with the garage on the left of the house and bunkhouse slightly behind and to the left of the house. It faced the barn. There was a branch of the road from the garage that lead to the four sheds. They were in a line going back from the garage. Most of the ranch was wide open with trees around and in back of the buildings. There was a dry wash in back of the sheds that was about five to ten feet deep. A series of corrals came up a gentle slope from the barn.

Eldie was keeping track of the feed from the UAV. There were four signatures in the ranch house. They seemed to be in different rooms. The bunkhouse was full. He could count at least ten shapes, but occasionally there seemed to be a shadow with the figures. Steven postulated that those might be people in real bunk beds with a person on the top bunk and one on the bottom. So Eldie called it twenty. There were no signatures from the garage, but the barn had at least another ten shapes. Eldie thought they could be horses. They appeared bigger than those from the house. He wrote those down as possible head counts. Each of the sheds had two shapes at the front. Number two had five more shapes in the back of the shed. He wrote that down as the likely location of Casey and his team. Number three had as many as seven people in the back. He wondered about the third shed and put an annotation by it stating 'missing SWAT?' He checked with Steven and they send a request to the FBI center for pictures of the missing SWAT team members. He also noted that their teams were outnumbered by four to twenty one people.

**Bar F CA**

The first four teams arriving at the ranch were to move around to the side with the sheds. It was a bit rugged. There were a few trails around the ranch and the trail to the sheds was not an easy trip. They suspected no one would see them as the people in the sheds were located at the front. All four teams were in position when Chuck and Sarah pulled up to their position behind some high bushes in front of the ranch.

Casey in shed number two decided this had to be the time to try his escape. The others were not yet awake and didn't respond to his shaking them. He was not sure how long he had been out, but guessed that the sun would be up shortly. He had broken his hand earlier and slipped his hand out of the handcuffs. That hand was throbbing and swelling. He was starting to wonder whether doing it early was a good idea. He had tried to test the surveillance in the room by changing positions. But no one came to the door to check. So he thought that maybe he could fool those who checked the video feed. He rushed to take his shirt and pants off. He laid them out on the floor and borrowed a baseball cap from one of the members of the protection detail. After making a scarecrow of himself on the floor, he moved under the window. The window was a little higher than he thought but still within reach.

"Oh come on, no one is out there. You can see that without the binoculars. Let me take a look and then I'll stay in the van. Come on out. You can cover me at the same time." Chuck was being himself again.

"Okay, just for a minute and then we'll get everyone ready to go." Sarah climbed out of the van.

Chuck had his binoculars up and was looking around the ranch, "Okay that's something you don't see every day." He passed the glasses to Sarah. "A rum pineapple Mi Tie, $7.50; an old Dodge Pickup, $1200; Casey in four-leaf clover shorts, priceless"

"Yeah, some things are better than diamonds. Oh wait, I did not mean this one." She held up her hand, gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and then showed him the picture on her iPhone.

"So, how do we get his attention?"

"Here hold these; we have just the thing to get his attention." Sarah went back in the van and came out with an Alpine TPG-1 with scope.

"You're not going to shoot him are you? He hasn't been that obnoxious."

"No, this happens to be our practice package. It has a red illumination laser on it. Here watch. He should see us in a second."

Chuck was watching Casey. He thought it odd that Casey was shaking his fist at them instead of waving.

"Oh, and it comes with a special zoom lens so you can take pictures of the target." Sarah was smiling broadly.

"Should I go get him? We don't want him to get a cold. That would be too much of a payback."

"No, I'll get him." Sarah put the rifle back, grab a back pack, and another set of tactical coveralls. She got serious, "I'll meet him at the big cottonwood at the end of the tree line. If anyone comes out before that, have the teams provide some cover fire for us."

"Wait, what? This isn't what we were setting up for. You'll be out there with no one else."

"Chuck, it is okay. I'll be right back with Casey. I have to do this. He is our partner. Okay?"

"Yeah, hurry. I'll have the teams cover you." He held her hand for a second, and then let her go.

"All units, this is Chuck. We have one captive in the trees. Sarah is going to recover. She'll be coming from control's position. Eldie report if you see anything move. Kristen you are the back up. Air Cav, do you copy our activity?" Chuck was watching Sarah's progress.

Sarah ran between the knolls and brush to cover spots as she maneuvered to the tree line. Casey moved from tree to tree. They met at the cottonwood.

Casey grunted and nodded his head. "How many are with you?"

"We brought twenty eight on the ground. And have an Air Cav unit on the way."

"They hit us with tranq darts. I pulled out one of them. It seemed like they were using two or more darts per person. Unless the detail with me finally woke up, they are still in that building. What was your plan?"

Sarah pointed to Chuck's position. "We are up there. That's our closest position. If we stay here we could be in the cross fire. Ready to go?"

Going back through the same knolls and brush, they made it back to Chuck. Chuck reached out and shook Casey's hand, and then grabbed Sarah hand and did not let go. "Casey, how did you make it out?"

"They don't seem to be watching their surveillance cameras constantly. There is a blind spot by the back window. I got out through the window. The rest of the detail were still out from the tranq darts." Looking at the van Casey said, "What you got?"

Chuck waved Casey in the van. "We are getting a download from the UAV surveillance platform. You can see here on the map, the silhouettes of the people at the ranch. Dad thinks the bigger ones here in the barn are horses." He looked at Kristen, "Have you seen any movement?"

"No, the only things that seems to move are the horses in the barn. If these two people in the front of the shed you escaped from, are almost certainly asleep. They have not moved at all." Kristen looked at Chuck.

Chuck nodded his head. Then he pointed to their people. "Here's where we deployed. And we have Air Cav that is about 10 minutes out." Chuck looked over to his beeping laptop. "Just a second, let me check this."

Chuck went over to the laptop. He had set it so that it would alert him when the analysis he set in motion on the ranch was completed. But it would only constantly beep if there was something wrong. He started to check the results. "Oh boy, Sarah, Casey, we need to talk real quick." He almost pulled Sarah out with him. He had his laptop and Casey was following. "Does it matter if this is the ranch of Maximilian de Brouget, one of the Fulcrum elders?"

Casey started, "Other than being on his land we don't really have anything to tie him to this, what, kidnapping?"

Sarah looked at Chuck, "Well, he must know we are close or he would not have attacked us on the beach. You said it was a new unit of theirs. If he is not there, we will leave him a little message. If he is there, it would be sufficient evidence to detain him. Director Kelly and Justice can determine whether he remains in jail."

"Okay, then it's a go. Let's change the plan a little. Casey you feel good enough to help." Chuck ducked as Casey went to slap his head. "Okay, wrong question. Let's get back in the van and I'll explain this.

"I have a couple of changes for the original plan. Our first objective will be the release of the Casey's detail. Next to confirm the people in the next building are the SWAT team or not; and get them out if they are. Casey's team is in building two and as Casey said their surveillance monitors are not being monitored effectively. There is a window in back of the building. We will try to do thus as quietly as possible. Tac Team 1 will go through the window and wake our team inside. They will standby to guard the door in the front of the room. Tac Team 2 move forward to positions around buildings two and three and provide cover fire when called. Mary's team will move with Tac Team 2. They will go to the window of building three and determine whether the people there are the SWAT team or not." He looked at Casey. Realizing Casey did not know the full story of the night, he explained some of the high points including the missing SWAT team. They had gotten the pictures of the SWAT team minutes before they got in position.

"Mary's team has copies of the SWAT team photos. It's all we got. Alice's teams are to stay in position and cover the escape. Teams 3 and 4 and Clay's team will stay in place until called. Their job will remain the same; neutralize the people from the ranch house and the bunkhouse.

"Next because I assume that there could be locks on these doors like we found at the garage." He looked at Sarah and Casey and raised his eye brows seeking their approval. "Sarah and I will unlock the doors. So Sarah and I will come around from behind with Tac Team 2. We will go to the front door, open it and if possible tranq the two guards. Then we will open the door to the room holding the captives. We will assist Tac Team 1 in getting the captives around behind the building. Next from that position we will check with Mary's team to see if they found the SWAT team. If so, we'll follow the same procedure. Then all of us at the buildings will withdraw back to Team 1 and 2's original position.

"Casey, your job is to call in the Air Cav if this goes bad and stop those from the bunkhouse and ranch house from getting to us. Any questions?" Chuck waited a second to see if there were any.

Casey said, "I have one suggestion, either Kayle goes with you two or I'll send one of the leads from Tac 3 or 4."

Sarah said, "Kayle will be fine. After we leave for the shed you are in charge. We would not be able to see how this unfolds. Let's explain this to everyone." They spent the next couple minutes making sure everyone understood. Casey also explained the blind spot in the surveillance of the captives' room.

Chuck grabbed his equipment and his tranq guns.

Sarah said, "Okay, Chuck, Kayle and I are moving to the tree line in front of Teams 1 and 2. Teams 1 & 2 commence your move and meet us there."

Chuck gave Sarah's hand a squeeze and said, "I'll follow you." Kayle followed Chuck. They met the teams at the tree line. As they moved through the trees, Chuck was hoping they would not be noticed. There wasn't any noise, but there were a lot of people hoping from tree to tree. No one spoke as they moved through the trees. As they got to the building Casey relayed that all of the signatures remained stationary.

Team one got in position to go through the window. They put one person through the window and held position. Chuck, Sarah and Kayle went around to the front. Sarah looked down the road in front of the sheds. It was clear. Chuck went to the door. It was a regular lock. He shrugged his shoulders and got Sarah to come over. She picked the lock in a couple seconds. Kayle and Sarah took the door just as quickly. One guard was as sleep in his bunk bed. The other was resting his eyes head down in front of the monitors. Both were rendered unconscious. Sarah looked at the next lock. She motioned for Chuck to come in.

He flashed on both guards. Over the net he reported, "Both guards are Fulcrum." He held up his hand and motioned to the monitoring equipment. Sarah nodded in agreement. Chuck looped the picture from the last ten minutes.

Mary came on-line next, "Building three does have SWAT team personnel. They are all on the floor."

Back at building two, it was Chuck's turn at the locks. He steadied himself after a mini-flash. Unlocking the door, he transmitted, "Opening the door to the captives, standby."

"Door opened, team secured." When the door was opened, the members of Team 1 were boosted through the window. They worked with Sarah and Chuck to arouse everyone. Sarah used smelling salts to get some of the stragglers to wake up.

"Okay, everyone go around to the back of this building." Sarah pointed to the front door. "We need to go out the front. Casey, what's the status of the ranch?" A couple of the captives were still having problems with the drugs.

Kayle tied up the two guards, and then kept watch at the front door. Casey answered back, "No one is moving."

Sarah had the captives with two from Team 1 assisting them go to the back of the shed. She had other two stay with her in case they had problems getting the SWAT Team to wake up. As they moved to building three, Casey reported, "No movement. Air Cav is now in position."

Sarah and Chuck got to the door of building three. The lock was the same. Sarah got through it in just a couple seconds. The guards were not the same. As Sarah and Kayle went through the door, the guard at the monitor took a quick shot at the door. The bullet went through the frame and into Sergeant James shoulder. The guard did not get a second shot as Sarah's gun came up in a smooth motion and fired. The other guard was not quite as fast. He rose from his bunk gun in hand. Kayle had a long enough reach to rap his gun across the guards face and knock him out.

"All of bunkhouse is now up. Ranch house is moving." Casey began to direct the traffic. "Guards at building one and four are going to their front doors. Team 2 get in position to take the guards down if they come out of their doors. Air Cav begin the assault on ranch house and bunkhouse."

Chuck was at the lock of the second door. He took a little longer on this lock, but opened the door. "Opening door to SWAT team, standby."

"Door opened, team secured." When the door was opened, Mary, then the Chief and finally LT came through the window. It took a little longer to wake everyone. A couple of them had serious bruises on the face.

"This is Team 2. Guards from buildings 1 and 4 may have clear shots at building 3. We do not have clear shots at them."

The Air Cav Apaches had the bunkhouse and ranch house pinned with their 30mm's. Casey redirected fires, "Air Cav, we need one of your assets to suppress fires from building 1 and 4."

As soon as the Apache got in place and began, Sarah collected everyone and began going out the front door of building 3. She directed everyone around back of the building. Chuck came out last and followed Sarah around the side of the building.

When Sarah reported that her teams were at the back of the building, Casey told everyone to withdraw from the ranch. The Air Cav was to continue suppression fire. When the captives had been taken to safe areas, Casey told the Air Cav to hold and then announced that the people at the ranch were under arrest. They were to come out of the buildings and go to the front of the ranch house lawn.

When Kristen confirmed that all signatures were accounted for, Casey and the teams at the front of the ranch began to advance. They surrounded the people on the lawn and then began to handcuff them. Casey asked Steven to relay a request to the FBI for assistance in taking the prisoners to holding facilities.

As that process was beginning, Chuck, Sarah and Mary's team began the search of the other buildings.

A/N Hoped you liked the four-leaf clover. No, I don't own Master Card, although they may have owned me. Please review.


	5. Chapter 5 The Search

We wait. A diversion comes along and what do we do? Still don't own Chuck.

Chapter 5—the Search

…it was a dark and stormy night….

**Bar F CA Ranch**

Chuck, Sarah and Mary's team began the search of the other buildings. Tac Team 3 came down from their position and removed the guards that were at the front rooms of each of the buildings. Chuck confirmed that the guards from building 1 and 4 were Fulcrum. They were getting ready to unlock the door at Building 1. Tac Team 4 accompanied them.

Sarah was watching him, "Chuck are you okay?"

"Yeah. Well, starting to get a bit of a headache. It's like at the garage."

"Do you think they could have drugs here?" Sarah was now next to Chuck looking at his face.

"Maybe. We don't know yet. But just a second." Chuck started focusing on the lock. He force flashed the answer for this lock. After keying in the code, he opened the door. He looked in the door and saw pallet after pallet of boxes. He just stepped in the room and turned around to leave the building. "Sarah, get everyone out of there. It has to be drugs like back at the garage. And this place does not have any ventilation. Wow, that's bad. And I thought I was getting a buzz from the Rum."

"Come on everyone out. Sergeant could you have one of your people stand guard at the door? We'll have to get some special equipment to clear this out." Switching back to the network, "Casey building one appears to be loaded with drugs. We'll need some support to check it and have it emptied." She walked over to Chuck. "Do you need to take a break?"

"No, I'll be okay. Let's try the other shed." Chuck started toward the other building.

Entering the other building Chuck said that he did not smell anything. He went to the lock on the door. He was able to open this door too. Only this time they found several safes, file cabinets, and computers. Chuck went over to one of the file cabinets. It was full of documents. He got one of the files and started leafing through it. The papers were invoices and note pages. "Sarah, can you open one of the safes?"

"Sure. Which one," She said with a smile.

Chuck picked one and pointed to it. Sarah went to work. It took a few minutes. "Thanks, always like a little practice."

"Sarah, we better lock this. It still has to be very sensitive. I flashed on some of that. Seemed old, but there were missile parts, sensor circuit boards, and manuals to go with them. What were these guys doing, running a wholesale company for secrets?"

"Sergeant, we need one of our people to guard this too." Sarah looked around at the barn. "Let's go check over there at the barn."

After going through the barn, they found that there were horses. Chuck did not step in it. They went through the garage. It had a step van, four black vans, and space for another two vans. The house did not contain much of interest. There was a command center arrangement there to watch over the sheds. But when Chuck looked at the computer it had nothing but the controls for the security equipment. They took a quick walk through in the bunkhouse. There was nothing worth a second look in there.

Chuck was walking back to the front of the ranch with Sarah. "I don't really understand this. Why would one of the Elders put all these things at one place? They were doing operations from this same site. Isn't that strange?"

"Yes, let go see what Casey has found." Sarah continued to find Casey among the prisoners trying to get some answers. "Casey you get anything?"

"No." Casey pointed at one guy. "We think he is the leader. But no one is talking. Chuck, you take a look and see if there is anything worth doing something about."

"Well, I'm going to go up the drive a little ways and use the binoculars. If I did it close up, everyone will see me flashing."

"Come on, I'll go with you." Sarah took Chuck's hand and they walked up the drive.

Chuck turned around and took the binoculars. He started with the guy that Casey had pointed out. "Well okay, he's probably the senior guy. He was rogue ten years ago. First report of him with Fulcrum is six years back. He was a senior DEA agent." Chuck next went to the guy standing by the senior Fulcrum. "A little different, he's almost got the same experience. Prior scientist from Los Alamos was under investigation for espionage. He was connected with Fulcrum five years ago." Chuck looked at another that was standing close by. "A hit man was in the mob, joined Fulcrum about three years ago." After another flash Chuck was sitting on the ground. "I'm sorry, must be a combination on the drugs and flashing too much. I'm starting to get a terrible head ache."

"Chuck, it's okay. We don't have to go through every one of them." Sarah was running her hand over his forehead.

Chuck sat back for a minute resting on his hands behind him. "Just a couple minutes and I'll try it again. We need to know why this would happen." After a while Chuck tried again. He flashed on two more people. "One was another rogue joining Fulcrum a couple years back. The other was a small time arms dealer." Chuck put his head down again.

Sarah was getting concerned about Chuck and asked Casey to come over. "Casey, Chuck is having a bit of a problem from the drugs in the shed and flashing on almost everything he sees. He is concerned about how easy this was."

"Hey, I am still here." Chuck looked up at Casey. "Didn't you think it was easy to get out?"

"Somehow I don't think breaking a bone makes it all the easy."

"Well, okay. But everyone is asleep and…no. We got to get out of here. It's another trap. They are after all of us. All of those electronics were from old systems. That shed has sleeping chemicals in it. That's what gave me the head ache. There is some kind of gas system here. Let's check something." Chuck switched on the network. "Vandenberg, we need a sweep of thirty miles around the ranch. We are looking for what looks like a small convoy or a group that could be at least twenty people."

"This is Vandenberg, standby. We will redirect. Images start now."

"Kristen, Dad, stay up on this. As soon as you see something, let us know." Chuck went to get up and Casey gave him a hand. "Sarah, Casey, we need to get out now. If our prisoners give us a problem, it means they know and they are trying to delay us. And I am not sure about our air support. Fulcrum may know we have them. The prisoners would have had enough time to get a warning out before we captured them."

Sarah already had her network switched on. "All forces withdraw from the ranch. Guards at the sheds please double time to the front lawn and join our teams. Air Cav, take up position 50 miles to the west. How long will you be able to keep station?"

"Approximately fifty minutes, Ma'am."

"Chuck, assuming Fulcrum could figure out how long they could stay on station, when would they release the gas?" Sarah was watching the teams get back to their vehicles. They did bring a few prisoners with them.

"At least thirty minutes before they got here, Ma'am." Chuck had a slight twinkle in his eye when he said that.

"Okay. Air Cav, how long would it take you to go refuel and get back here?"

"It would be almost two hours, but we could have our reserve flight here in about an hour, Ma'am"

She was just about to rap Chuck over the head watching his smile getting bigger. "Great, you stay for the fifty minutes, and call up your reserve flight."

"Copy all."

"Eldie, get the FBI center on-line. Tell them our status and divert their clean up team.

"Okay teams, we are going to move back to the rest stop on the 5 going south. Everyone accounted for?" Sarah waited for a response by each of the teams. "Okay let's go."

Leaving at least twenty prisoners behind on the front lawn, their little caravan made it down the road to the truck stop. They were there not more than five minutes when Kristen said she saw something coming west on 138. Chuck, Sarah and Casey went to look. The next sweep with the UAV confirmed at least ten vehicles moving as a group toward the ranch. When the UAV made a sweep over the ranch, all the prisoners were still on the front lawn.

Sarah and Casey started making the rounds. They had four prisoners with them. Rather than risk losing them or getting them shot in the upcoming battle, they sent all four back to Castle with two of the protection detail. Sergeant James was sent with them.

Sarah and Casey checked with each of the teams. The SWAT team was now fully awake and asked to participate. Their leader Special Agent Adams wanted a chance to arrest the people who had done this to his team. With the extras they brought, Sarah was happy to see that all of the SAT team was properly suited and ready to go.

Chuck was back in the van with Kristen. They were now sure the prisoners on the front lawn were asleep. There had been no movement from the entire bunch for the past five minutes. The UAV showed the ten vehicle group to be moving onto the 5 and heading toward the ranch.

It was now almost 45 minutes from when Sarah had contacted the Air Cav unit. Sarah decided to check their status too. "Air Cav, what is your status and the reserves?"

"This is Air Cav 1 we have five minutes left before we head back. Air Cav 2 is about 15 minutes from the ranch. They are bringing a dismounted force which is company size. Ma'am."

Now she was about to smack Casey too. "Okay, head back at the five minute mark. We will plan our operation to start at the time Air Cav 2 arrives." Sarah got Casey and they went over to the van with Chuck.

Casey started, "So, what is the plan? We watched them go to sleep, and their attack group arrives. Surround them in a fire fight?" His eyes gleam a little at the prospect.

"We could do a cross fire like we were going to set up before." Sarah postulated.

"No, there might be an easier way. Let's have the Air Cav blow up the shed number one. It might throw that gas around enough to put the new people to sleep. Then if we have to, we can go in guns ablaze." Chuck looked at both for agreement.

Casey asked, "But how do we know for sure they are Fulcrum."

"Well, if you drove me passed the ranch while I looked through the binoculars, I should be able to flash on someone, and then we'll know." Chuck looked over at Casey.

"Okay, let's do this." Casey was ready to go.

Sarah stepped outside with the network switched on, "Okay, everyone here. We are going to…" She explained the plan. There were no questions. The caravan of ten vans turned into the ranch. The first van drove past the first shed as the last van pulled into the driveway. Chuck and Casey were almost even with the edge of the ranch. Chuck could see the doors opening. The UAV was trained on the caravan. There are at least four people in each of the vans. The lead from Air Cav 2 was a minute away from going to a holding pattern or going in for the strike against the shed.

Chuck finally saw the people getting out of the van. He could clearly see the people walking toward the front lawn. "They are Fulcrum. It's a go."

The Air Cav 2 lead and two wingmen advanced on the shed. The UAV was illuminating shed. The lead launched two Hellfire missiles at the shed. It was an easy sprint to the shed. The missile went through the wall of the shed just inches apart. Once through the wall they exploded, the incendiary blast burned away the first layers of the drugs stored inside. One thing did happen as Chuck had planned, the remaining white powder was spread over everything within 300 yards. But something happened that Chuck did not plan.

There was a secondary explosion with enough force to throw and roll the vans near the shed, and roll the vans that were perpendicular to the shed. Two of the sheds were blow away along with the garage and bunkhouse. The barn and ranch house made it through. The Fulcrum agents from the vans were thrown across the driveway or thrown down on the front lawn. Those agents already sleep on the front lawn went for a little roll. It did not take long for those who were not knocked out to fall asleep from powder.

Chuck and Casey were not as fortunate. To maintain the deception Casey had, they kept going passed the ranch. They were in front of the driveway when the hellfire hit the shed. The blast became focused by the trees and shrubs as it traveled up the driveway. It hit the van with enough force to roll it over the right shoulder of the road. The van rolled down the small mound and landed right side up.

Kristen had reported twenty two remained at the ranch and an additional fifty had come with the ten vehicle caravan. After the blast she added, "None of the people at the ranch are moving."

Sarah had seen and felt the blast even though they were two miles away. She asked for the Air Cav unit to deploy the scouts. The follow-on helicopters dismounted the scout platoons. They were in their MOPP 1 gear. They spread out to cover the area.

"Casey, Chuck, are you there?" Sarah looked over to Kristen.

"They are not on the main road. I can see their signature off the rod in front of the drive."

"Scout 1, please look for a vehicle off the side of the road in front of the drive. Should be two individuals. Also, please report when the levels of the powder are low enough for us to enter the area." Sarah had turned to her old agent mode. Nothing would affect her until this was over.

"This is Scout 1, if you have a standard gas mask, you should be fine. This powder is a combination of crystal meth and some kind of tranquilizer. We have no indication that it could be absorbed through the skin. Ma'am."

"Teams check your equipment, report if you have gas masks and the number." Sarah thought each of the vehicles were to have four masks. But she was not sure whether the equipment from the van taking the prisoners back had transferred all of their equipment to the SWAT team. She waited for their reports and consolidated the people with functioning masks down to four vans. They became the new teams one through four.

Sarah went with Team 1. They went to the front of the driveway. With their masks on they went down the hill. It was only ten feet. The van must have completely rolled over once. The roof was smashed but the van was sitting correctly on its tires. The windows on the passenger side had broken. The front and driver side had cracks but did not scatter. Both Chuck and Casey were slumped over in their seats.

Sarah went around to Chucks door and was vigorously tiring to get it open. The door had been wedged. Mary and the Chief pulled Casey out the window on the other side. LT climbed in the window and pulled Chuck over. Then he and a sergeant got Chuck out of the van. As they were checking them, both pulse rates were a bit high but there were no broken bones that were obvious. They had a very little dust on them.

After Sarah looked at them, she asked, "Mary, could you and LT take them back to the command van? There are some medical supplies there. And we would be getting them out of this area too. Let me know if they wake up, or anything changes."

Mary knew that was a hard decision for Sarah. "Sure, we'll take good care of them. Lea is still back there. She has given first aid to several drug victims. And I'll get Steven to connect with one of the hospitals."

"Thank you," was all Sarah could get out. She and the Chief started over the front lawn. "Scout 1, what is status of your unit and the prisoner's."

"This is Scout 1, Ma'am. Our MOPP gear appears to be holding well. No one has reported any ill feelings. All of the prisoners are unconscious. We checked the building s that are still standing and no one was in those. We will need medical some help. Most of the prisoners have at least some scraps; eleven have been hit with shrapnel from the explosion. At least two of those are serious and bleeding rather fast. And one of our guys is a rancher. He checked the horses. Two of them sustained wounds and will need a Vet."

"Steven, please get the FBI center on line and have them sending out that clean-up crew, tell them we'll be turning over seventy two prisoners and ten are wounded, two severely. Did our other prisoners make it back and how is Sergeant James?" Sarah was walking over to the front lawn to take a look.

Steven came back, "The FBI clean-up unit is about twenty minutes away. They are sending three medical helicopters from various hospitals to get the wounded. They should be there in twenty minutes also. The unit to take the prisoners back will be using two buses. We'll be up to you in a little over an hour and a half."

"Vandenberg, will we be able to keep using the UAV until we pull out of this area?" Sarah looked up to see if she could spot it.

"This is Vandenberg. We'll be able to cover your position for another two hours. Then we'll get another if you need it."

Sarah saw that scouts were guarding the prisoners. They had frisked them and there was a pile of assorted Glocks and machine pistols by the drive way. She told the Sergeant leading the guards that they better check for knives too. She's wished Chuck were here to confirm that all of the prisoners were Fulcrum.

"Sarah, this is Mary. Lea has stabilized Chuck and Casey. Their heart rates are back to normal. We have not been able to wake them up. Also, Kristen got an email. It says, 'From Kelly, Getting pressure from Max. Advise you return to Castle for briefing."

A/N Hoped you liked this. Please review.

Follow-on to news flash in last chapter, IMDb reported in a 29 Oct article, No More Trauma, But Definitely More Chuck, "It was speculated that Chuck would return after the Winter Olympics were completed in February, but now there's word that it may premiere in January (although this hasn't been officially confirmed)."


	6. Chapter 6 The Briefing

So there you are again. Still don't own Chuck.

Chapter 6—the Briefing

…it was a dark and stormy night….

**Bar F CA Ranch**

"Steven said that he has another helicopter, from the USC hospital, coming for Chuck and Casey. There is a nice field beside us and we'll have it land there." Mary waited for a reply.

Sarah had just gotten control over the Fulcrum prisoners and now her boss wanted her back at Castle. "Okay, tell them I'd like to ride back with them and get Steven to send a car to pick me up at the USC hospital."

On the ride back to Mary's position Sarah began to think what had transpired, '_If Kelly was getting pressure, then Chuck was right. The Elders were powerful. He had described Maximilian de Brouget as a Fulcrum Elder in Sacramento. Max had been in politics, held a seat in the State Senate and ran for Congress. He made his billions in construction, mainly overseas. Lost the bid for the Congressional seat as some claimed that he had his party's rival killed before the primaries._

'_How many Fulcrum agents have we either captured or killed within the last few weeks? There was the shoot out at the Leadership school, the bombing at Barstow, the shoot out at the wedding, the airport, and the garage. And now we have 72 prisoners. How many more Fulcrum agents could there be in California. We must have destroyed their West Coast operation._

"_Chuck, you better be okay. We cannot have gone through all of this to have you in trouble.' _Sarah saw that they were pulling to a stop. She got out and went over to where Lea was taking care of Chuck and Casey. "How are they?"

Lea looked up at Sarah, "They are better now. Their pulse is down to a normal range. Their temperature is okay also."

"Can you tell anything more? Were they knocked out or did the tranquilizer get them?"

"No, I really can't tell. They don't have any noticeable bruises or swelling on their heads to indicate any head trauma."

"Thank you for taking care of them. I am going to check with Mary." Sarah walked over to the van. She went inside and looked at the display. There were signatures all over the lawn. "Mary, do you have an estimate of the arrival of the USC helicopter?"

"Should be here in another ten minutes. What do you want to do with this mess?"

Sarah looked thoughtfully at Mary, "Well, I was hoping you would be able to handle it. We mainly have clean-up around here. FBI is to come in for the real clean-up. I'll remind them how big this job will be. When they get here with enough people to handle it, you should be able to hand it over to them. Let the Scouts and the Air Cav go then too. Finally, let Vandenberg know they can have control of the UAV. I will give them all a call to let them know we are putting you in charge. Give me a call if you run into any problems.

"Get everyone back to the Apartments. Here's the key to the conference room. You have the code for the cipher?" Mary nodded her head. "Okay, I will be over as soon as I can. I am not sure what Director Robins has to say. But I will come right over. Oh and finally, make sure the drivers stay awake when you come back." Sarah sat down at the console and started making the calls. She told them that Mary would be in-charge and that they really appreciated the job they did today.

Sarah finished making the calls just as the helicopter landed. The crew picked up Chuck and Casey. They gave Sarah a hand up into the helicopter. She sat next to Chuck but could see how Casey was doing too. The crew had IVs in both and both were securely strapped in their medical cots. She was all strapped in too. They lifted off when the crew chief gave the pilot a thumbs-up. Sarah made it until they got off the ground and then she went to sleep.

**USC Hospital**

Sarah woke up when they touched down at the hospital. She remembered the drill from last time. She followed them down to the emergency room.

Steven met her there, "Hey Sarah, how are you doing?" He wrapped his arm around her and they sat down next to Chuck.

"Okay, just really tried."

"We have four guards here. Chuck and Casey will be fine. Why don't you go back to the apartment and get some rest? We can take care of Chuck and Casey." Steven held her hand and could feel it trembling. "Don't worry everything will be fine."

"Oh, I cannot go back to the apartment without Chuck. It was going to be our first night in the apartment together. I cannot do that." She just shook her head no. "And I have to get back to Castle for a brief with Director Robins."

"Well, since I am being paid to be a consultant, I'll consult. You probably would be better if you just lie down and get some sleep here. They will be moving Chuck and Casey up to another room soon. We can make sure it is one for two people and get a bed in there for you to lie down. You need sleep too. What needs to be done so that can happen? I'll call Kelly and tell him. Who else needs to know? By the way, do we need you checked for these drugs?"

Sarah looked at Steven. "No, I am just tired. Well, Kelly said he needed to talk with me by message when we were up on a secure network. So, that's got to be important. And then I was going to have everyone meet us back at the apartments."

"Fine, I'll tell Kelly you need sleep. And if you don't get some sleep, I'll tell him the drugs got to you too. And have these fine emergency people take over. So, get some sleep. I'll tell everyone else to meet at the apartment tomorrow morning."

Sarah finally said, "Okay."

Steven got up, "Don't worry it will be okay." He walked off and talked to the emergency admittance nurses. He arranged to have them sent to adjoining room and Chuck's room equipped with an extra bed. He told the guards he wanted an extra detail at the hospital 24X7 while they were there. Then he walked outside and gave Kelly a call.

Sarah watched the nurses check Chuck's and Casey's vitals and draw their blood. Steven came back and told her that Kelly said that it would be fine. It could wait now.

A little while latter a doctor came over and told them that they did find some serious bruises on their shoulders and hips. They could have suffered some trauma to the head. They had some Acepromazine in their blood. The doctor said that with that kind of tranquilizer it will be difficult to determine how long they will be asleep. Finally, Casey had a broken metacarpal in his left hand. They set the bone and a cast was put on the hand. But if it continues to get broken, they may have to do surgery to repair it.

The nurses came and got Chuck and Casey and took them up to their rooms. Steven went up with Sarah. When she promised to get some sleep, Steven went back to Castle.

Early that evening Chuck woke to see Sarah lying in the bed next to him. He panicked. _"Oh, what happened? She was clear back with command van. Sarah, you better be okay. We cannot have gone through all of this to have you in trouble. Oh please."_

Chuck tried to get up quickly to go over to Sarah. When he sat up, he got dizzy. _'Okay, a little too fast. Wow that hurt. Wonder why we would both be in the same room. You got to be okay.'_ Chuck got up and saw the extra robe on the night stand. Putting that on, he walked over to Sarah. _'Please be okay. Please be okay.'_

Sarah started to wake-up when Chuck was bending over her to see if she was okay. She turned over to him and stretched. It surprised Chuck a little and he found that he was off balance. He tried to recover but wound up putting his hands on the bed to both her sides. He was able to mutter, "Sorry." Then he bent all the way down to give her a kiss.

Sarah looked at Chuck as he bent to kiss her and raised a little to meet him. She was so happy he was up and apparently okay, she pulled him down to her.

With a muffled, "ah..um," he straightened up a second later when the nurse came in.

She definitely came across as Nurse Ratched. "Well, I guess you woke up. Please take a seat at you bed. I need to take your vitals."

Chuck scrambled to get to his bed. Sarah got up and put her tactical vest back on. Seeing how unhappy Sarah looked at the situation, he wondered whether Nurse Ratched would last the evening. The nurse was extremely efficient. She was back out the door as fast as she came in.

Almost in unison they said, "You okay?" "Yeah."

Chuck got up and started to walk over to her. Sarah advanced to Chuck. They met hugging each other as hard as they could. Once again getting no break, they heard a knock at the door. As they separated the doctor came in.

The doctor gave Chuck a quick check. After asking several questions he said that Chuck may still get headaches from inhaling the mixture of the drugs and tranquilizer. He said that both Chuck and Casey would remain overnight for observation. He had some latent indications that there were head injuries in both. He also recommended they get a clean set of clothes as their black uniforms were covered in those drugs.

When the doctor left, Sarah said, "Well, I better see how Casey is doing."

"Wait, I'll go with you." Chuck got up from the bed. Making sure he had his robe on correctly, he slipped into the hospital booties.

Chuck got up and offered Sarah his arm. She smiled at him and took it knowing they would get a big reaction when Casey saw them.

When they came out of the room, another nurse saw them. She held up her hand and said, "There are a lot of people in the waiting room that want to check on them. Are you ready to see them?"

Sarah looked at Chuck who looked like he was going into panic mode because of the hospital grown and robe. She smiled and said, "In a second, let us make sure our friend is ready too." She knocked on Casey's door and heard the ever present grunt. "Casey, you awake? Are you ready to see a few people?"

Casey came to the door, "Hey, I am awake. What are you talking about?"

"The nurse said there were a few people in the waiting room to see us. Are you okay?" Sarah stood waiting with Chuck for Casey to open the door.

"I'm fine." Opening the door, "Who is here?"

Chuck was almost jumping up and down. He waved at the nurse, "Let them in. We are ready." Casey must not have looked hard at his gown. While Chuck's gown was a pale blue and his robe was a pale green, Casey's was a small clover print. Somebody at the hospital must have had fun too. He whispered to Sarah, "Please tell me you brought your iPhone."

Casey pulled his pale brown robe around him, "Make a move and you're a dead man Bartowski. I heard that." Then he closed his door.

Steven, Mary, Alice, the Chief, LT, Lea, Brad, Vera and Kristen came by the nurses' station to greet Chuck and Sarah. After many handshakes and a couple hugs Casey came out and joined the crowd. They stepped into Chuck's room. Sarah sat down on Chuck's bed and motioned to the others to take a seat. Kristen, Vera, Lea and Alice sat on Sarah's bed. Mary went over and sat by Sarah. Chuck took the other side. Steven, the Chief and LT deferred to Casey to sit in the visitor's chair. When everyone took their places, one of the guards looked in and closed the door.

Chuck started out, "What happened? We should have been far enough away that the blast would not roll a big van like we had."

Sarah began the explanation, "There was a secondary blast that was a lot bigger. It blew you off the road and then the van rolled down the hill."

Chuck looked really worried, "Wait, did we kill anybody doing that?"

Mary had been following the way Chuck had planned their operations, "Chuck, don't worry. No one was killed. There were a few that got hit with fragments of the shed, only two were serious. At the last report they were in stable condition."

Chuck nodded at Mary.

Sarah then asked, "So I don't want to make this into a work session, but did the transfer take place without any problems?"

Mary explained, "Well, it took a little longer than we thought. It just took longer to get the prisoners loaded. None of them were awake. But they sent enough agents to take care of it. Everything else went smooth."

Sarah was smiling at the results. "Thank you, all of you, for getting that done and helping us get Casey and his detail back."

A grunt and, "Yeah, thanks for helping us get out. Are they all okay?"

"Yes, Sergeant James was wounded. But he was the only one. The Air Cav scouts had no problems. Actually, the Air Cav commander said thanks for the opportunity to do a live fire run." Mary said with a small smile.

Steven provided the next update, "I stopped back at the apartments. Devon's operation went fine. The patient's family was very happy he came back to do it. Ellie and Devon left for the second half of their honeymoon. I did not explain what our current operation entailed, but they both said be careful. Ellie said she wants a serious long talk with both of you. We could arrange for you to be out of town for an extended period?

"Finally, Kelly called back and does want to talk with all three of you when you get back tomorrow." The last thing that happened was Casey and Steven nodding at each other.

_A/N Hoped you liked this. New story to follow. Please review._


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